


Surrender

by 80slovers



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Background Byler, Background Relationships, F/M, M/M, Multi, Multiship, OT3, Polyamory, Self-Discovery, Some angst, Some pining, Soulmates, Soulmates AU, background Jopper, background elmax, eventually some fluff, maybe some monster hunting, some background ships, soulmate, stoncy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-25 01:36:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21348124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80slovers/pseuds/80slovers
Summary: Ever since Nancy Wheeler could remember, she had been waiting and searching for her soulmate.Steve Harrington had hoped for quite a while that his soulmate would come to him, although he would never admit that aloud. No way.Jonathan Byers didn’t believe in the soulmate search. He thought it was utter bullshit.But things begin to change for Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan when they find out who their soulmates are...
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

Nancy Wheeler was a hopeless romantic through and through. She was the girl in elementary school that gave everyone a Valentine on Valentine’s Day. The kind of girl that sat at home on Friday nights, hoping that her mother would let her watch Sixteen Candles on the TV for the sixtieth time. What? Was it so wrong of her to want to find her Jake Ryan? A boy that made her feel special and was also very handsome at the same time was all that Nancy hoped for. 

Well, of course there were other things to hope for as well, such as a good grade on her biology test or a new sweater for her birthday but the burning desire for her soulmate never faded. Not even for a second. 

Well, that was until she met  _ him. _

  
\--------

Steve Harrington wasn’t the kind of guy to admit that he was (kind of) into the romantic stuff. But every now and then, he’d watch The Notebook with his mom and (maybe) shed a tear (or two). What? Was it so wrong that he enjoyed Nicholas Sparks? A man that wrote the greatest love stories of all time? Maybe it  _ was  _ his guilty pleasure to spend a Saturday night with his mom watching rom-coms. 

Steve had hoped for quite a while that his soulmate would come to him, although he would never admit that aloud. No way. He wasn’t going to compromise his cool guy status quo, not until the right girl came along, at least.

But that all changed when he met  _ her _ .

  
\--------

Jonathan Byers would rather die than believe in the whole soulmate thing. From what he’d seen and experienced, soulmates were complete and utter bullshit. How could he believe in something that he’d seen crash and burn over and over and over again? How was he supposed to have hope that the crashing and burning wouldn’t happen to him? How could he be certain of anything that had to do with love?

According to his friends there were no possible ways to avoid finding your soulmate but he’d be damned if he didn’t try his best to. 

Well, that was all true until he met  _ them.  _


	2. I

**NANCY**

“Hey, asshole!” The words escaped my mouth before I could even attempt to stop them. I clamped a hand over my mouth and rolled up my window quickly. So I‘d definitely be getting first place in the world class idiot competition. What a great way to start the morning, Nancy!

“Woah, Nance!” Mike exclaimed from the passenger seat with his mouth agape.

Shit. I’d almost forgotten he was here. I whip my head toward him and jab a finger at him. “Do  _ not  _ tell Mom and Dad!”

Mike pushed my finger away and I growled at him.

“What are you gonna do if I tell them?” Mike countered, crossing his arms over his chest. He was getting cocky.

“You gotta ride the bus for the rest of eternity, that’s what’ll happen.” I simply said with a shrug of my shoulders.

“You’re a monster.” Mike scowled and stuck his head back into his phone. His curls fell into his face and he pushed them out of the way.

“You should get a haircut, Cousin Itt.” I said with a little laugh but Mike clearly wasn’t pleased. He scowled once more and sighed before turning back to his phone.

Ever since Mike had gotten a girlfriend, he’d become such a pain in the ass. At least his girlfriend, El, was sweet. Almost too sweet for her own good. But boy, when they were together they were sickly sweet and I love candy so that’s saying a  _ lot.  _

“What’s up with you and El?” I already knew the answer to that but he seemed to have a different answer every time so I wanted to see what he would come up with today. “Hmmm?” I ask when he doesn’t answer. He’s consumed in his phone. Again.

“Huh?” He asks and looks up from his phone for a split second.

“You and El?” I ask.

“Yes?”

He’s so clueless. “You and El? What’s up with you two?”

“What do you mean what’s up?” He looks up from his phone and stares at me in confusion.

Clueless. Absolutely clueless. “Are you two dating?”

“Why do you care?” 

I throw my hands up in surrender. “Jeez, I was just asking. No need for the attitude!”

He sighs and brushes his hair out of his face. Since when did he think that haircut was a good idea? Why hadn’t their mother convinced him otherwise?

“Dramatic ass.” I say and turn up the radio.

“Good mooooooorning, Hawkins!” The early morning radio show host exclaimed. Wow, I wish I had that much energy every morning. Maybe he takes espresso shot IVs. “How is everyone doing?” Why did they ask questions? Am I supposed to answer? “It is  _ official  _ soulmate season everyone!”

Shit. I’d nearly forgotten about that. My heart fluttered at the thought of finding my soulmate. What? Don’t judge me, okay? I just want to find the one. The one that was meant for me. I’ve been waiting 17 long years for it and I’m ready to finally find him. Whoever he may be.

“As you may know, the soulmate season starts in early September and ends on February 14th so good luck Hawkins singles. Remember, you can only find your soulmate if you’re 14!”

“Mike!” I exclaimed and nearly swerved into the next lane. “You turn 14 soon!”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded and looked at me as if I was an idiot. “What about it?”

“Aren’t you excited!?” I ask and look over to him. I can just tell I’m doing my crazy eyes thing because he gives me a strange and fearful look. 

“I guess.” He says with a shrug.

“What if El’s your soulmate!?” Or what if she’s not? Yikes. I’m not going to ask that.

“And what if she’s not?” Mike asks and I’m surprised by his sudden burst of emotion. “Then shit’ll be fucked!”

“Hey!” I say and smack him in the arm. 

“What?” He asks and rolls his eyes. “I’m not a child, Nancy Drew. I can cuss if I want to.”

“Whatever.” I murmur and roll my eyes. But then I remember his question and I have to find out more. “So what if El’s not your soulmate? It won’t be the end of the world.”

“I’m scared she won’t be.” Mike says quietly and I can tell that he’s nervous about the whole situation. “Oh, God! I’m not ready for that!”

I pull up to a stop sign and rub his arm. “It’ll be okay, buddy. Life works out, yeah?”

At first, he grabs my hand and squeezes it (a sign of love in the Wheeler family) but then he pushes it away. How sweet.

“Drive!” He demands and I lurch forward, nearly running into a car.

“Oops!”

\--------

**STEVE**

“Chill your shit, dude!” I had yelled back with a smile and a wave. She just scowled.

Okay, now  _ that  _ was unfair. Some girl in a white Jeep Cherokee just pulled out in front of me and yelled at me? Damn, the nerve of some people on a bright Monday morning! I had heard her scream at me (okay, let’s be honest, it was definitely more of a yell but let’s pretend here) quite clearly as my windows are rolled down. I liked the way the autumn wind flooded through my car and nipped at my nose.

Woah, that sounded poetic. A little  _ too  _ poetic. I swear I’m not usually this extra!

Maybe I’m just excited for the day. Or maybe I’m more excited that it’s the first day of soulmate season. Or “soulmate szn” as a lot of girls on Twitter were tweeting that morning. What? Could a guy not be excited about finding his dream girl? Lay off! I’m sure you want to find yours too, okay?

I turn up the radio and hear the radio show host talking about the upcoming soulmate season. God, his voice is annoying as hell. I quickly switch the radio over to my aux and blare some good ole rock and roll. What? It’s good for the soul

Four songs later, I pull into the Hawkins High School parking lot and look around at the crowd swarming into the front doors. They looked like a bunch of ants, all following in suit of the others. For once, I’m kind of glad I can go in through the gym’s back doors. Most of the time there were a lot of weirdos who hung out behind the school and they gave me the heebie jeebies.

I parked my car but I didn’t get out quite yet. I had to listen to the rest of this song. Phil Collins didn’t deserve the unplugging the aux and finishing the song later kind of shit! He was a piece of prime American music and I didn’t want to do him dirty. Once the song finished, I switched off the engine and unbuckled my seatbelt. I reached into the backseat to grab my backpack which was nearly out of reach so I had to stretch across the center console and into the backseat to reach it. I gripped the handles and pulled it forward but it was unzipped and my (very few) school supplies emptied into the backseat of my car. 

With a groan, I got out of the passenger seat, opened the door to the back and sat in the back seat to reload all of my supplies. I took my time. I wasn’t trying to be early to class. That’d be completely out of character and I didn’t want to ruin my nonchalant but still got good-ish grades persona. I found a piece of paper on the floor that had nothing on it but the title, which said ‘DUE MONDAY!’

“Shit.” I’d definitely forgotten about that over the weekend. With a shrug, I stuffed it into my backpack and hoped that I’d be able to suck up to my teacher about it. I was pretty good at kissing ass but I would only do it after class. I would never dare to do it in front of other students. I wasn’t crazy.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and locked my car. It made a little beeping noise and I rolled my eyes. That car disgusted me. It was so … not to be anti-feminist or anything but girly. I hated it. But I had gotten it for my 16th birthday and money was kind of tight a couple of years back so I didn’t want to complain. I was hoping, with my after school job at the mall, that I’d saved up enough money to get another car. I’d sell that one and give my parents the money I’d get from selling it. They deserved it. They were really good people and I wanted to do something nice for them. Maybe it was a silly idea but he’d worry about that when the time came.

My skin grew cold when I passed the weirdos standing outside of the gym’s back doors. I swear to you, one of them hissed at me. I definitely sprinted inside and straight to the locker room after that. I had basketball first period and it was nearly time for practice to start and I didn’t want to be late. Coach already hated me enough.

I stumbled into the locker room and nearly ran smack into somebody I didn’t recognize.

“Woah, sorry dude!” I said to the guy I’d nearly just planted a kiss on.

“Ack!” He yelped and pulled away from me quickly. “I’m sorry!”

I laughed and shook my head. “It’s no worries.” I said with a shrug and began to continue into the locker room to change. “Are you lost or something?”

“Ah, um, eh, kind of?” He said that more as a question than a statement.

“Well, what are you doing back here? Maybe I can try and help.” I offered and tried my best not to look at this guy up and down. He definitely didn’t belong back here.

  
“Ah, well, I am, uh, taking pictures of practice for the yearbook.” He said and pointed to his camera bag.

“Oh, okay.” I said and then, “Why are you back here, though?”

“Oh, ah, um, I was told I need to talk to the coach before I just start taking pictures.” He said and he pretty seemed unsure and nervous about the situation.

“Well, he’s probably setting up for practice so you could go ask him in the gym.” I said and looked up at the clock on the wall above me. Shit. I had like three minutes before the first bell rang.

“Ah, oh, um, okay.” He said quickly but he didn’t move. 

“Gym’s that way, dude.” I pointed to the doors behind me.

“Right.” He murmured and then I got it.

“You want me to go with you to talk to him?” 

“Ah, um, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“Nah, but I should warn you. I’m probably not the best guy to have picked for this duty. Coach kinda hates me.”

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you’re my only hope, man.”

I chuckled and then began to walk towards the back of the locker room. “You can come with me but I gotta change first.”

“Oh, um, I can, uh, wait outside if you want.” He said quickly and moved toward the doors.

“It’s cool, you can wait in here.” I offer and shrug off my backpack and open up my locker to pull out my sneakers and practice clothes.

“Ah, um, okay.” He says and sits on a bench far away from me and he turns his back toward me.

Damn, am I  _ that  _ ugly?

\--------

**JONATHAN**

“Will!” I yell from the front door, car keys in hand. “We’re gonna be late!”

He scuttles out of the bathroom and grabs his backpack off of the kitchen table chair before rushing toward the front door.

Then Mom clears her throat, “Missing something here, aren’t I?” 

Jokingly, Will and I groan but nevertheless place a kiss on her cheeks. Will gives her a hug as I head for the door.

“Love ya, Mom.” I say with a small smile and wait for Will to let go of her.

“It’ll be okay, sweetie.” I hear her say into Will’s neck. Sometime over the summer, Will had gotten much taller than our mother and frankly, it still surprises me sometimes.

Will murmured a thank you and placed another kiss on her cheek before following me out of the front door.

“Have a good day, boys!” She called out after us and we waved back as we walked toward the car.

“Love you!” We yelled back and hopped into the car. I jammed the key into the ignition and turned up the radio. That annoying radio show host’s voice blared through the car and Will covered his ears immediately. I turned it down and murmured a sorry as I pulled out of the driveway.

“Hey, buckle up!” Will demanded, looking over at me expectedly. I buckled my seatbelt and smiled at him.

“Thanks, Mom.”

The radio show host began to talk about how the soulmate season began today and I changed the station. I didn’t want my day to start out that way. Sure, I’d remembered that the season started today. How could I forget about it? Everyone and their mother’s cat had something to say about it. It was mainly the girls but even some guys got really into it. Honestly, I find it all a little pathetic. Most studies showed that even if you found your soulmate and married them, you were more likely to get a divorce from them than if you had just married some random person. It’s kind of funny, really, how pathetic it all is. People wait their whole lives to find ‘the one’ only to end up hating them down the road. I’d just rather skip all of it. Living a lonely life by choice seemed much better to me than living a lonely life that was forced upon you.

“Jonathan.” Will said and snapped a finger in front of my face. “Jonathan!”

“Ah, yes?” I asked, blinking and looking over to him. 

“I’m scared.”

“What? Why?” I asked, an eyebrow raised.

“The season starts today.” 

“Uh huh,” I simply said, “What about it?”

“What if I find my person soon?” He asked and by the tone of his voice, I could tell he was serious. “I’m not ready for that kind of commitment!”

I laughed and shook my head. “There aren’t any rules saying that you have to love them or anything, Will.”

“Well, yeah, but––”

“You’re more likely to love them, yeah. I know.” And it was true. That much I knew. When you find your soulmate, you were more likely to fall in love with them. There were tests and research behind it but I didn’t really care enough to look into it. I highly doubted I would find my soulmate and I was even more uncertain that I’d fall in love with them. It was all too cliche, in my opinion. I’d rather just steer clear. I didn’t want to end up like my Mom. Her heart had been ripped out when my Dad left. It was like him leaving had broken her. And she’s strong, much stronger than I am. I don’t even know what I’d do if something like that happened to me. So, it’d be best to just avoid it.

“Well, what if it’s someone I know?” Will asked as he wrung his hands together nervously.

“Maybe that’d be better?” I swear, I’m usually much better at giving advice but when it comes to this soulmate shit, I was well, pretty shit at it.

“You’re bad at this.” Will said and crossed his arms over his chest. “Is this all because you don’t believe in it?”

“I, ah… Sure.” I said simply and shrugged my shoulders. “But just because I don’t doesn’t mean you can’t. Do whatever your little heart desires, Will.”

He groaned and just turned up the radio. I guess he’s done talking about it, which was honestly fine by me. The soulmate search talk could wait.

We rode in silence, besides the music from the radio, for the rest of the drive to school, which was a good fifteen minutes or so. Sometimes I preferred the silence to awkward chit chat about love and soulmates and other romantic things. I’d prefer to leave that stuff to Mom.

The parking lot was crowded when I pulled in and I already knew it’d be a doozy trying to find a spot.

“Do you want me to drop you off at the front?” I offered and looked over to Will. “It may be a while before I find a spot.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” 

I nodded and continued to search the parking lot for a free spot. “Keep your eyes peeled, Byers.”

Will nodded in response and after a few moments, he called out, “Over there!”

I pressed my foot to the gas and definitely ran the stop sign in the middle of a parking lot and almost ran into another car. But then again, they almost ran into me. So… That didn’t really count, right?

“Shit!” I cried out before I watched the other car pull into the spot I was trying to pull into. “Bitch.” I groaned out and continued to search for another spot.

“Jonathan!” Will cried out and held up his arms in defense. “You almost got us killed! And don’t call girls bitches, that’s just anti-feminist, okay?”

“They almost ran into me, okay?” I said, “And plus, she was being a bitch by taking that spot!”

“Anti-feminist!” Will cried out and raised his eyebrows at me. “Tsk, tsk.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just look for another spot, will you?”

Will groaned in response and looked out the window. “Over there! Now, please do not get us killed!”

“I won’t!” I defended and pulled into the spot with ease. I put the car in park and smiled over at him. “Better?”

“You’re dangerous.” He said and hopped out of the car. Before he shut the door he gave Jonathan a wave. “See you after school. Love you!”

And just like that, Will was gone. I turned off the engine and sat in silence for a few moments. I silently prayed to the God I wasn’t sure existed that today would be a normal day. 

“Please?” I ask and then say, “Alright, um, thanks. Amen.” That felt strange. My Mom always looked much more collected when she prayed but maybe it was because she had practiced. I, on the other hand, did not have much practice in the world of prayer.

With a sigh, I grabbed my backpack from the backseat. I pulled the key out of the ignition and stepped out of the car. From my back pocket, I felt my phone vibrate several times. I quickly pulled my phone out of the pocket and checked the home screen. I had six missed texts from the yearbook editor, Robin.

**ROBIN (7:45am):** Hey can you cover for me during first period? I can write you a pass to get out of your first period

**ROBIN (7:46am): ** I’m behind on my deadline but I also need basketball practice shots for the sports section

**ROBIN (7:48am):** Pleeeeeeeeease :)

**ROBIN (7:51am):** Need you ASAP

**ROBIN (7:52am):** PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

**ROBIN (7:54am): ** JONATHAN PELASE

I immediately shot back a reply.

**JONATHAN (7:55am):** Can do boss

**JONATHAN (7:55am):** Just gotta get my camera out of my car

**JONATHAN (7:56am):** Then where do I go?

I waited for a few moments for a reply and when I received none, I just moved to pull the equipment out of my trunk. As I slung my camera bag over my shoulder, Robin texted back.

**ROBIN (7:58am):** Gym

**ROBIN (7:58am):** Talk to the coach before you take pics though!!

Wow, thanks, Robin. I hadn’t even thought of that!

**JONATHAN (7:59am):** But where????

Shit. It was almost 8, and the bell rang at 8:10, which meant I did not have as much time to book ass to the gym as I had hoped I would.

I locked my car and hustled to the front of the school, where the mass of people were. I fell in step with the others around me, who were talking about soulmate season and their new markings and yada, yada, yada, and sighed. God, I hate people.

Once I was inside of the main entrance to the school, I broke free from the crowd and booked it to the gym. I vaguely remembered where everything was from P.E. class during freshman year. But let’s be honest, that class was awful in more ways than one. I tried my best to forget all about it so I was a little lost. From what I remember, the coach’s offices were in the middle of the locker room. Honestly, it all seemed a little creepy to me but whatever. 

I moved through the locker room quickly and to my surprise, there were no guys in here. Maybe they were all already out there practicing or they were late? Either way, I was a little glad to find no one in here. That was until I realized I had no idea where the coach’s office was nor who the coach even  _ was _ .

“Shit.” I said quietly and moved toward the locker room doors. Just as I was about to exit, they flew open and a tall guy nearly ran straight into my face with his face. He was kind of cute, though. Anyways, not the point. The point was, I was lost and he agreed to help me. Thank God.

I sat down on the bench, facing away from him while he changed so that I wouldn’t see anything. As much as I can hope that this guy’s a little gay, it was unlikely. 

Only I would be bound to be stuck in the locker room with a very attractive straight guy.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! thank you so much for reading!! it means so much to me <3
> 
> things to remember:  
\- modern au  
\- soulmate au  
\- ot3 au  
\- the story takes place pretty much before the entire show even starts!!!  
\- nancy, steve, and jonathan are all the same age in this and they are seniors in high school.   
\- they don't know each other!!
> 
> i've been wanting to write this for a while and so i'm super excited!!!!! i love the stoncy ot3 idea so i had to join in.
> 
> i hope you enjoy!


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